Food and drink in Williamsburg

When you have only a few days in New York City, the foodie options can be fairly overwhelming and it’s easy to fall into the tourist traps. So, equipped with some TimeOut reviews and local recommendations, we dove into the culinary scene in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and here are the tastiest morsels for your dining and drinking delight.

Smorgasburg
Stunning, outdoor food market with unbelievable views over the water to the classic Manhattan skyline. Brave the cold for tasty freebies, hot mulled wine and hot, salty fries.

Roberta’s
Roberta’s is a little tricky to find, tucked down the end of a rather scary, industrial looking street. The food though, is worth the journey, living up to its colloquial accolade of being the best pizza in New York. Unusual toppings, cocktails with a kick and twinkling fairy lights made this – our first meal in New York – one to remember. I can personally recommend The Sound and The Fiore Pizza, with butternut squash and plenty of sage.

AllswellWe’d read about the famed Allswell brunch and so, despite the hour wait for a table, we sat down in the cute, hip eatery with growling stomachs and oodles of anticipation. A giant pancake doused in butter and maple syrup and garnished with poached eggs and bacon successfully waved goodbye to my hangover and left me feeling content, if a little sedate. Hannah’s fried chicken and chips were equally delicious and I somehow found room to finish off all her leftovers. The only real question left is whether it’s ‘all swell’ or ‘all’s well’… either way it works.

Zona Rosa
The atmosphere of Zona Rosa is carnival casual – fun music, bright colours and fairy lights. The delectable Mexican food, served from a big metal truck within the restaurant, is delicious. Be careful on spice though, Eleanor’s dish knocked her socks off!

Night of Joy
Night of Joy doesn’t look like a bar from the outside, in fact it kind of looks like a fairly run down house. But lo and behold, step through the door and you’ll find a bustling hipster joint with mix-match furniture and mean cocktails. I say mean because they were horrifically strong! The strength of the cocktails was likely one of the key reasons we had an awesome night here but the bar does tip over the line of hipster cool and into contrived and pretentious, or maybe that was just the clientele…

The Counting Room
Amazing bar harking back to prohibition times, with a basement full of wooden tables and a bar stocked with every spirit known to man. It’s a great place to chat over gorgeous cocktails and free-pouring means the drinks pack an almighty punch.

Skinny Denis
Billed as a honky tonk bar, Skinny Dennis didn’t disappoint us; we walked in to a country band playing a cover of Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball (way better than the original). Free peanuts at the bar and yummy bottled cider (it’s hard to find cider in America) made this a winner, but on a Saturday night it was almost painfully rammed, so arrive early.

Union Pool
This was the final resting place of our big Brooklyn Night Out and, though I’m a little hazy on the details, they were definitely playing Northern Soul and we definitely had a lot of fun dancing into the wee hours.